Arctic climate variability is normal

A new study demonstrates that natural variability in the Arctic is large, and is not conflicting the global warming trend.

Published: 24.09.2013
- Updated: 25.09.2013

It is well known that the present global warming is amplified in the Arctic and accompanied by unprecedented sea ice decline. Warm periods, like today, are associated with high northward heat transport, reduced growth of Arctic sea ice cover, and high surface air temperatures.

In a new study, researchers from the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research in Bergen, with IMR's Randi Ingvaldsen, Vidar S. Lien and Anne Britt Sandø amongst the authors, show the central role of the Barents Sea in Arctic climate change. The Barents Sea, located along the main pathway of Atlantic Water entering the Arctic, is important for creating variability in the entire Arctic air-ice-ocean system. As warm Atlantic Water flows through the Barents Sea, it loses heat to the Arctic atmospherees